Stop thinking the creative director rejected you because you're a girl: Sana Ahmad

You mention ‘That video on sexual harassment at the workplace’ and there’s a strong chance the internet janta will recall ‘Her’. Yes, that video where Maanvi Gagroo confronts a colleague staring at her breasts. What many in and outside the ad frat may not know is that this International Women’s Day special film, that garnered 20 million plus views across platforms worldwide, was written and directed by a 29-year-old near-newbie Sana Ahmad. But this wasn’t a flash in the pan. Last year, Ahmad had made another viral PSA called ‘Dadi’ for HelpAge India, that was released in May’16. It showed that old age is actually second childhood which needs to be celebrated and not grieved.

Viral ≠ More work

Despite acclaim for ‘Dadi’, Ahmad didn’t get any work between May’16 and March this year - until the release of ‘Her’. “I got 10-12 scripts and sent treatment notes but nothing happened after that,” she recalls. Nevertheless, she kept cold calling senior people - except in the digital age, it meant adding all and sundry adwallahs on Facebook and sharing work with them. “What kept my hopes up was the fact that even people at the NCD level were giving me time to meet once they realised I had made Dadi.”

How ‘Her’ happened

Sometime early this year, Ahmad approached Anupama Ahluwalia who heads LinProductions - MullenLowe Lintas Group’s production arm. Ahluwalia recalls: “I had been talking to Sana for a while, and knew she has it in her. She narrated a couple of her scripts, and I told her about a concept for Women’s Day.” Ahmad came back with a screenplay for ‘Her’. “She put her faith in my vision. That’s by far the biggest thing someone has done for me,” says Ahmad.

Things changed for the better once ‘Her’ was out. In the last three months, she has co-directed over 10 films with writing partner Beeswaranjan Pradhan: for Air Asia, Amazon India, Red Label, HDFC Life, and Axis Bank.

Too much too soon?

In an industry where it takes years to make your mark, some believe Ahmad’s had it easy. “There is a sense of jealousy but no one says it. I sometimes get this ‘Why should we report to her when just one year ago she was our peer?’ vibe”

What those people don’t know, she says, is her struggle. Ahmad hails from a middle-class family in Delhi. Her family was totally against her decision to move to Mumbai and even she was in two minds. “They thought I got through Jamia Millia Islamia so it must be for journalism,” she recalls. In the six years she has been away, Ahmad has been broke several times - largely before joining Kiss Films as assistant director to Shikha Makan (under whose tutelage she claims to have learnt the ropes of filmmaking), and after quitting the production house to do something on her own. (It was Makan who always encouraged Ahmad to make her portfolio reel.)

“At none of these weak moments have I turned to my parents for help. I had to break my Fixed Deposits to make ‘Dadi’. But I kept praying to Allah, telling him my intentions are pure, just show me the right way. Please don’t let it come to a point where I have to break my fourth and last FD. And he listened.”

Dealing with prejudice

While Ahmad has had it easier than many others, she acknowledges, “It is doubly difficult for a woman to make a name for herself. Clients look at you suspiciously, wondering if you are capable. Sometimes even the crew throws attitude and goes, ‘Hum kar lenge na, usse kya poochna!’ The only way to prove them wrong is by doing great work. Sometimes you make it so big in your head it starts affecting you adversely. I’ve told myself to stop thinking a creative rejected working with me because I’m a girl.”

She also belongs to a religious community that’s often discriminated against. “I have been refused accommodation in so many flats. But I can’t do anything about it. I don’t think people discriminate against you on that basis in advertising; not to your face at least. As it is we’re dealing with prejudices against women; if I throw in religion, I might as well pack my bags and leave,” she quips.

Battling stereotypes

Her current battle is against the stereotype that she only does “drama films.” “I do like that genre but I want to make films that can capture something unique yet universal. After ‘Her’ was released, I got a message from a man who vehemently disagreed with the portrayal of working men in the video until his wife told him it has happened to her. It feels good when your work can create the opportunity for such dialogue.”

Ahmad has a clear plan for the near future: To make some money and restore the FDs (by doing ads), and then make some more good films.